Archive By Section - Nation

WASHINGTON - Democrats embraced Rep. Nancy Pelosi as the first woman House speaker in history on Thursday, then quickly snubbed her, selecting Steny Hoyer of Maryland as majority leader against her wishes.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - At least 101 Iraqis died in the country's unending sectarian slaughter Wednesday, and the U.N. reported that 3,709 Iraqi civilians were killed in October, the highest monthly toll of the war and one that is sure to be eclipsed when November's dead are counted.

NEW YORK - In an account his publisher considers a confession and some media executives call revolting, O.J. Simpson plans a book and TV interview to discuss how, hypothetically, he could have killed his ex-wife and her friend.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - Teacher Bill Morgan walks into his third-grade class wearing a black Pilgrim hat made of construction paper and begins snatching up pencils, backpacks and glue sticks from his pupils. He tells them the items now belong to him because he ''discovered'' them.

HONOLULU - President Bush, heading home from an eight-day journey to reassure Asia of America's commitment to the region, told U.S. troops stationed in Hawaii that their participation in the war on terror ''will determine how your children and grandchildren live.''

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon's most prominent Christian family, was gunned down Tuesday in a carefully orchestrated assassination that heightened tensions between the U.S.-backed government and the militant Hezbollah.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad invited his Iraqi and Syrian counterparts to a weekend summit in Tehran to tackle the chaos in Iraq, where violence is hurtling toward civil war, four key lawmakers told The Associated Press on Monday.

LONDON - The FBI is joining the British probe into the poisoning death of a Kremlin critic, the agency announced Thursday as investigators found traces of radiation at a dozen sites in Britain and a former Russian prime minister reported symptoms consistent with poisoning.

AMMAN, Jordan - President Bush on Thursday rejected calls for a measured withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, even as Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, facing doubts about his ability to dampen violence, asserted his forces could take full control by June.

NEW YORK - Police committed a crime when they killed an unarmed bridegroom as the man left his bachelor party, civil rights activist Al Sharpton said Wednesday, noting that one officer reloaded during the 50-shot barrage.